Sing the wrath, Goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles,
a destructive wrath that caused countless woes for the Achaeans
and hurled many mighty souls down to Hades,
souls of heroic warriors, while their bodies became the spoils of war for dogs
and birds of every kind (thus Zeus's plan was accomplished) --
beginning, O Goddess, from the moment when the two of them first stood apart in
rivalry,
Atreus' son, the king of men, and godlike Achilles.
Which of the gods brought the two of them together in rivalry
to fight each other?
The son of Zeus and Leto: because he, being angry with the king,
stirred up a plague among the army, hideous and destructive, and the men
perished,
because the king had dishonored the god's priest, Chryses,
the son of Atreus had done that. For Chryses approached the swift ships of the
Achaeans
in order to free his daughter, bringing limitless ransom gifts,
holding in his hands the sacred headbands of far-shooting Apollo
fastened on his golden scepter, and he implored all the Achaeans:
"O you two sons of Atreus, and all you other skillfully
armored Achaeans,
may the gods who inhabit palaces on Mt. Olympus grant you
utterly to destroy the city of Priam and successfully return home again:
but release my beloved child to me and accept these ransom gifts,
showing reverence and fear for the son of Zeus, sharp-shooting Apollo."
Then all the other Achaeans expressed their approval
to show regard for the priest and accept the splendid ransom gifts
but for Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, it was not acceptable in his heart;
rather, he dismissed the priest in an evil manner and laid a harsh command upon
him:
"Do not let me find you, old man, beside our hollow ships,
either lingering now or coming back again later,
lest the scepter and the headband of the god afford you no protection.
For my part, I will not set her free: before that happens, old age will come
upon her
in my house in Argos, far from her fatherland,
going back and forth along the loom and sharing in my bed.
But go now, and do not provoke me! That way, your return home will be safer."
Thus he spoke: and the old man was afraid and yielded to his
command.
So he went away in silence along the shore of the wide-roaring sea,
And walking a great distance, the worthy old man prayed repeatedly with
intensity
To Apollo, the Protector Lord, born to Leto of the lovely hair:
"Hear me, O Lord of the Silver Bow, you who stand as a
protective wall around Chryse
and Sacred Cilla, and rule with force over Tenedos:
if I ever offered pleasing things to you in a temple, O Smintheus,
or if at any time I gave you a burnt offering of fat thigh pieces
of bulls and goats, fulfill this heart's desire for me:
Let the Danaans pay the full penalty for my tears with your arrows!"
Thus he spoke, praying, and Phoebus Apollo heard him,
and so he descended from the citadels of Mt. Olympus with anger in his heart,
wearing his bow across his shoulder and his double-capped quiver,
and the arrows shrieked like birds on his furious shoulders
as he was roused to action: and he approached like the night.
Then he sat down at some distance from the ships and launched an arrow among
them
and a terrifying shriek was made by his silver bow.
First he attacked the mules and the swift dogs,
but then, letting loose his piercing arrow on the men themselves,
he fired a shot. And from then on the pyres of dead bodies burned thickly.
Translation copyright © 2008 Richard Welland Crowell